Mobile wireless communication is advancing with capabilities of storing large amount data in smaller and faster electronic chips. The original communication devices stored mobile data on embedded memory chips. However, as the use of mobile devices increased, users utilized the devices as information storage source. Phonebook and calendar records went from being kept on paper to strictly being stored on mobile devices. This caused a problem through persistent introduction of new mobile phones and better subscription plans each year, while lucking in easy data transfer and guaranteed data security.
The versatility of a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card provided the subscriber to be independent of any particular mobile phone. The SIM card allows the subscriber to change cellular telephones without having to completely re-program the new telephone. The SIM card carries all the subscriber-specification information needed by a mobile telephone or by a hybrid mobile telephone/PDA. A microprocessor and a memory package enable the SIM card to store information. The information typically consists of subscriber identity, recent location, messages received and sent, service profile, the user's phonebook, and the like. The information is initially entered to the SIM card by the service provider, which programs the SIM card with a subscriber identity and profile so that only the subscriber can access and use the SIM card. Afterward, the subscriber may enter his or her personal information such as his or her phonebook or calendar to be stored on the SIM card.
However, because of memory limitations, information such as call records, pictures, games and game records, downloaded ring tones, and such are typically stored directly on the cellular phone. This storage method typically prevents the user from transferring his or her complete set of desired information into a different cellular telephone. Additionally, when a subscriber loses his or her cellular phone, the SIM card is also lost. Even though the cellular telephone number can be readily transferred into a new SIM card, all the other information stored on the SIM card and on the cellular telephone is lost and needs to be re-entered.
Very basic solutions for data storage came with the introduction of a SIM saver, a small portable device capable of storing a copy of SIM card data by inserting the SIM card into the device and backing it up. Another solution uses a Bluetooth or infrared link device capable of uploading both phone data and SIM card data from a mobile telephone onto a computing device. Although useful, both solutions require additional devices and lengthy data transfer processes given that the data is transferred in bulk.
Over-the-air data transfer offers a better solution for mobile telephone data storage since the process can be made simple and reasonably rapid. Currently, various mobile telephone service providers along with other companies offer an on-line phonebook. The user can access the phonebook through the Internet; the phonebook can be modified and retrieved to the mobile device by means of electronic mail or SMS. For example, Verizon Wireless offers a Backup Assistant service which allows a subscriber to store an address book to a secure web site so that the contact information is readily available in case of the acquisition of a new telephone. The multiple addresses and telephone numbers can be imported to the Backup Assistant website and transferred back to the telephone with ease.
A more versatile phonebook data transfer system is capable of updating the changes made on the remote database or the mobile device phonebooks. This updating is achieved by cross-checking the changes and displaying them on both the remote database and the mobile device phonebooks. At the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, Jan. 6-Jan. 9, 2005, Motorola displayed a system they term “MYBACKUP.” MYBACKUP is highly similar to Backup Assistant in that the method copies one's phonebook from a Motorola GSM telephone and stores it on a secure remote server. The presenter stated that Motorola also plans to provide the same service for backing up one's games and pictures. Although systems such as these assist the subscriber, the subscriber needs to follow a time-consuming process to accomplish the task. Moreover, such systems do not allow for the automatic storage of additional desired information, and they do not back up new entries until the user focuses on and actively implements the backup method.
Other systems are available which allow various types of data to be backed up using user-friendly software which is installed on the mobile device. Attix5 offers a product called Backup Professional—Mobile Edition (ME) which stores SIM and device data from communication devices such as cellular telephones and PDAs on its remote server. The Attix5 software, once installed, adapts to the particular telephone and uploads a “Backup ME” category or an icon to the preset mobile device menu. The user can select the type of information that will be backed up, such as contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, and photographs. The Software compresses and encrypts that data on the communication device, and the user commands that it be backed up. Subsequent backups involve only newly stored information. The user can select the frequency of backup, or else the system can be automated such that the phone can be set to backup automatically or the network can initiate backups. Although the Attix5 system comprises an improvement over previously described backup systems, the system is merely a backup assistant where the phone is the prior source of information and the database serves as information copy. As such, the system requires two copies of data and does not solve memory constrictions on the mobile phone.
What is needed is a system that provides remote mobile data which can be used by the user's communication device to perform typical tasks. Moreover, the system should enable the user to seamlessly use any communication device at any time. Only in this way can the user completely solve the problems related to loss of the communication device, damage to the device, robbery of the device, upgrading to another device, in addition to memory constrictions.